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Fly Trap

Frances Hardinge · back to the book

What’s in it

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24 books with the same feel

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❤️

The Sword in the Stone

T.H. White · 288 pages

When Merlyn the magician comes to tutor Sir Ector's sons Kay and the Wart, schoolwork suddenly becomes much more fun. After all, who wouldn't enjoy being turned into a fish, or a badger, or a snake? But Merlyn has very particular plans for the Wart. This is the children's story of King Arthur's childhood which was the basis for the still popular Disney cartoon of the same title.

Animal CompanionOrphansMiddle GradeFantasy
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The Shadow Throne

Jennifer A. Nielsen · 317 pages

In this conclusion to the Ascendance trilogy, the impulsive Jaron, former orphan thief and now King of Carthya, is facing down multiple enemies and his country’s invasion with his usual aplomb. There is always a trick up this royal’s sleeve, though setbacks involving those closest to him—and a surprise loss—almost push him to give up. (Almost is the operative word.) Battles, close shaves, daring e

OrphansWitty BanterPolitical IntrigueMiddle Grade
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Queenslayer

Sebastien de Castell · 464 pages

Animal CompanionWitty BanterPolitical IntrigueAdventure
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The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman · 399 pages

In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mys

Animal CompanionOrphansMiddle GradeFantasy
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Through Wolf's Eyes

Jane Lindskold · 608 pages

Animal CompanionOrphansPolitical IntrigueFantasy
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A Matter of Magic

Patricia C. Wrede · 448 pages

When a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into a traveling magician's wagon, Kim doesn't hesitate. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London, Kim isn't above a bit of breaking-and-entering. A hard life and lean times have schooled her in one lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But when the magician catches her in the act, Kim thinks she's done for. Until he su

OrphansWitty BanterAdventureFantasy
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Once Upon a Crime

Michael Buckley · 271 pages

OrphansWitty BanterMiddle GradeFantasy
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Eragon & Eldest

Christopher Paolini · 1,197 pages

The first two titles of the Inheritance Cycle in one fantastic book!ERAGONWhen Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is a lucky discovery - perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone becomes a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered and he is thrus

Animal CompanionOrphansFantasyPolitical Intrigue
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The Sorcerer in the North

John Flanagan

Known as *The Sorcerer of the North* in the U.S.. Time has passed since the apprentice and his master, Will and Halt, led the Araluens to victory against invaders, and Will is now a full-fledged Ranger with his own fief to look after. The fief seems sleepy -- boring, even -- until the Skandians show up and Will has to deal with the threat. Shortly thereafter, Will goes on a secret mission. Join

OrphansWitty BanterMiddle GradeFantasy
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The Amulet of Samarkand

Jonathan Stroud · 462 pages

Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace.

Political IntrigueWitty BanterMiddle GradeFantasy
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Inkspell

Cornelia Funke · 635 pages

When Dustfinger finds a crooked storyteller who can read him back to Inkscape, he leaves his apprentice Farid behind. Farid seeks out Meggie and the two follow him back into the enchanted book. Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of Inkheart, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return

Political IntrigueMiddle GradeFantasyAdventure
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The Alloy of Law

Brandon Sanderson · 362 pages

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are re

Political IntrigueWitty BanterFantasyAdventure
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Middle GradeWitty BanterFantasyAdventure
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The Sword of Summer

Rick Riordan · 512 pages

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnu

Animal CompanionWitty BanterMiddle GradeFantasy
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Wolf Brother

Michelle Paver · 320 pages

This exciting fast-paced novel is an engaging depiction of a young boy's life during Neolithic times. This fictional account includes details based on archeological evidence of tool use, clothing, and other details of everyday life during the Stone Age. The main character loses his father in a 'demonic' animal attack, so is left alone to face the harsh realities of survival without the benefit o

OrphansAnimal CompanionMiddle GradeFantasy
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Bewitched & Betrayed

Lisa Shearin · 384 pages

Witty BanterPolitical IntrigueFantasyAdventure
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The Water Mirror

Kai Meyer · 250 pages

In a place similar to Venice, Italy, two teenaged orphans, apprenticed to a maker of magic mirrors, begin to realize that their fates are tied to the magical protector of the city known as the Flowing Queen and to the ruler of Hell, respectively.

OrphansMiddle GradeFantasyAdventure
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The Wee Free Men

Terry Pratchett · 320 pages

A riotous, wise, and gripping junior Discworld novel from the Carnegie Medal-winning author and acknowledged master of comic fantasy.Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching thinks her Granny Aching - a wise shepherd - might have been a witch, but now Granny Aching is dead and it's up to Tiffany to work it all out when strange things begin happening: a fairy-tale monster in the stream, a headless horseman and

Middle GradeWitty BanterAdventureFantasy
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Cursor's Fury

Jim Butcher · 448 pages

When the High Lord of Kalare enters into a dangerous alliance with the Canim, and treachery destroys the Aleran army's command structure, an inexperienced, young Tavi of Calderon leads a poorly equipped legion against the Canim horde.

OrphansPolitical IntrigueFantasyAdventure
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The Scorpio Races

Maggie Stiefvater · 435 pages

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She

Animal CompanionOrphansAdventureFantasy
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The Wonder Engine

T. Kingfisher · 370 pages

Witty BanterPolitical IntrigueAdventureFantasy
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Flyte

Angie Sage · 544 pages

When Princess Jenna is pursued by a dark wizard, it is the apprentice, Septimus Heap, who must save her while enduring such terrors as a night in the Forest with hungry wolverines and carnivorous trees.

Animal CompanionOrphansMiddle GradeFantasy
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Emperor Mage

Tamora Pierce · 344 pages

When she is sent as part of the delegation from Tortall to negotiate a peace treaty with Carthak, fifteen-year-old Daine must use her powers to communicate with animals for more than healing the Carthak emperor's dying birds.

Animal CompanionPolitical IntrigueFantasyAdventure
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The Last Leopard

Lauren St. John · 200 pages

Martine can't wait to spend the school vacation riding her white giraffe around the Sawubona wildlife reserve with her friend Ben. But when her grandmother gets a distressed call from an old friend, Martine's hopes are dashed. They must all travel to Zimbabwe, where Martine will face her greatest challenge yet. Local legend says that the last resting place of the king of leopards is the hiding pla

Animal CompanionOrphansMiddle GradeAdventure
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